Years Lost
by Mazamba
Summary: It was easy to keep up a routine after sixteen years, not so easy when you suddenly have the body you had sixteen years ago. A quick drabble on Marco's thoughts upon returning to Earth
1. Time Lost

**Time Lost**

"One… two… three… four…"

He'd had a routine for the past thirteen years.

"Five… six… seven… eight…"

Get up, brush teeth, jog ten miles, do pull ups, sit ups, squats, curl the heaviest stone available, bench the heaviest log he could find, and wrestle the nearest monster. Repeat twice, and chase the nearest Heckapoo clone.

"Nine… ten… eleven… twe-twelve…"

It had been more difficult that he thought it'd be to keep up the routine.

"thirteen… four… teeeen…"

His body wasn't what his mind told him it should be.

"Fif-hah-fifteen… sixteen…"

In an instant, he'd lost sixteen years of progress.

"Seventeen… eighteen…"

His beloved dragoncycle.

"Nine-! Nine-! Come on Diaz!"

All he had was his memories.

"Nine…. Teeeen…!"

And his dimensional scissors.

"Twenty!"

Marco Diaz let himself fall to the ground, glaring spitefully at the pull up bar before glancing at the clock.

"Twenty pull ups in five minutes."

He'd lost a lot by returning to Earth, he'd be lying if he said he didn't miss the adventure of it all. In those eight minutes he'd become everything he'd ever wanted to be and more.

But this time around, he was different.

He could still wield his sword, even if it felt heavier than it'd had in years. He remembered his skills in combat, even if he felt he was moving at a snail's pace. At age fourteen, he had sixteen years of experience in war, espionage, swordplay, and, thanks to a certain candle-headed demon (?), flirting.

He'd made a lot of mistakes in his training he wouldn't make this time around.

His glare turned into a confident smirk.

It'd taken him ten years to do two hundred pull ups in ten minutes.

This time next year, it's be three hundred in five.

"Welp, time for the right arm! One… two… three…"

* * *

 _ **Omake**_

"… and so, yeah, Marco's technically thirty now."

Jackie Lynn Thomas and Janna stared at Star, gaping like fish out of water.

It was a full minute before Janna broke the silence.

"And you didn't take pictures!?"

"Wha!? Janna! I had more pressing matters than pictures! Like, "who's the guy with the eight pack that's hugging me?"!"

"Eight pack?" squeaked Janna, practically burning through her beanie, "Pictures should have been the first thing on your mind!"

"Oh come on! Jackie, back me up here."

She stayed silent.

"Jackie?"

"I'd have liked pictures."

* * *

 **Author's Note:** So yeah, just adding to a plot point that probably won't be touched... Unless the whole point was to make Marco a ridiculously good fighter in a short amount of time. I hope he gets his dragon back.

That said, I'm both happy and mad that Marco is so ridiculously shippable. I can picture a happy ending with Star, Janna, Tom, and now Heckaboo (am I spelling this right?).


	2. Adjusting

**Adjusting**

 _This is weird._

It's not that Jackie was unused to weird, she did share a few classes with Janna after all, but this was a different weird.

It wasn't a "let's summon a dead clown" weird or an "I summoned a dead clown" weird. It was more of an "I'm having lunch with my ex" weird.

Which is weird considering that, as far as she knew, she and Marco were still dating.

"Um, Marco?"

"GAH!" he startled, dropping a fry on the floor, "yeah Jack-Jackie?"

"Is… something wrong?"

"What? No!" he protested, picking up the fry off the grungy diner's floor and popping it in his mouth, "What makes you say that?"

"Well, for starters, you just ate a fry off the floor… and didn't call 911."

"Look, you never know when your next meal is coming," he snapped, startling her, "every bite counts."

"Oookay?" that was new, she decided to try a different angle, "Speaking from experience?"

"Oh, you have no idea!" he exclaimed, taking a pause to take a sip of his soda before continuing, "This one time, I got lost in the middle of the Anureni swamp in Metamoor looking for fifty eight and fifty nine. EVERYTHING in that swamp is laced with some amount of poison so you can only eat whatever you bring with you. Of course, I didn't know that so there I am, puking my guts out, and starving."

"Sooo, when did _that_ happen?"

"About eight years ago?" he pondered, rubbing his chin in thought, "Yeah, that sounds about right. I'd have died if I hadn't remembered that time Starfan13- wait, what's her real name?"

Jackie made to answer, but had to snap her mouth shut and shrug when she realized she didn't know either.

"Ok, whatever. Remember that time back in Biology class where she gave that presentation on how some plants only have poison on certain parts?"

"Yeah, that was last week."

"Yeah last- last week."

He trailed off, looking morosely at his burger as if he'd come to some big realization.

"What's wrong Marco?"

He sighed, "Honestly? I spent all night trying to figure out if I should break up with you."

THAT was unexpected.

"Break up? Why?" she asked, hurt, "If there's a problem tell me, don't just shut me out and break up out of nowh-!" she stopped, remembering a conversation she'd had with Star two days ago, "Wait. Does this have to do with that Hekapoo girl?"

"Star told you?"

"Yes," she affirmed before lowering her voice to a grumble, "She didn't bring pictures."

"Pictures? Wha-?"

"Never mind!" she cut in with a blush, "Just-! What's going on?"

"I-," he stopped, taking a moment to gather his thoughts, "Star told you what happened, right?" she nodded, "And she told you about how time passes differently in H-poo's dimension, right?"

"H-poo?"

"Never mind that," he said hurriedly, "but… she told you all about that… right?"

"Yeah, she said something about you spending sixteen years there, but only eight minutes passed here, right?" he nodded, "What's the problem?"

"What's the-!? Jackie, how do you not see the problem!?"

She just gave him a confused tilt of the head.

"Jackie I'm thirty years old!" pointed out Marco, "I just _look_ fourteen. I mean… this feels wrong, you know?"

She wasn't sure what to say about that. What _could_ she say about that?

"I… um… well…"

"I mean, it's not like it's just you," he continued, "I saw my parents and hugged them as if I hadn't seen them in years. But I mean, I _hadn't_ seen them in years! I almost told them they'd aged really well! And I can't remember my laptop's password, Miss Skullnick's lessons go _way_ over my head, and I keep getting lost in my own house!"

"Marco, calm-."

"And then there's you!" she paused, "I mean, this isn't fair to you either! You saw me a few days ago, but to me-! To me you're-!"

"MarcoMarcoMarco," she cut in, putting both hands on his shoulders before he had a breakdown, "Marco, chill."

"But-."

"Take a deep breath."

"Jack-."

"Take. A deep. Breath."

He rolled his eyes, but decided to humor her. It's not like he hadn't meditated before.

"Now let it out."

He obeyed.

"Feel better?"

He nodded, and he did, as odd as it felt to admit it.

"Now, what were you gonna say?"

"Well," he started, composing the words in his head before speaking, "I kinda… got over you."

"…what?"

"It's not like that! it's just…" he sighed, rubbing his head from the front to what had once been a burn scar on the back of his head, "look, things are weird in Hekapoo's dimension. There were times I tried to give up! But every time I did, I couldn't find her."

He trailed off and she made a motion for him to continue.

"The first year was the hardest," he said with a faraway look, "I actually tried to come back after the first _week_ , but she wouldn't show up when I called for her. It wasn't until I met the dimensional monks eight years later that I found out that you can't actually back out of Hekapoo's challenge. You start and you finish, or you die."

Jackie's eyes widened in surprise, but she didn't say anything.

"I felt like I was never gonna see you again," he continued, poking at his fries, "I cried for you, for Star, for my parents, even for Janna."

She laid a hand on his, "Marco… I-."

"I made up my mind that day," he cut in with new strength in his voice, "I would get those scissors, I would go back home, I would hug my parents and Star and apologize a thousand times for leaving, and I would give you the biggest kiss I could the second I saw you!"

She had to admit that her cheeks turned a bit pink at that.

"But then another week passed," he suddenly seemed a lot older than he looked, a lot more tired, "then another, then a month, then a year, then two years, then five, then ten, and finally, after sixteen years of following Hekapoo clones from dimension to dimension, I caught up with the original and got my scissors. Sixteen years of hard work had finally paid off."

"Marco-."

"Then Star burst in and told me I'd only been gone for eight minutes," he deadpanned with a fairly annoyed look on his face, "and here I am. Fourteen again, scrawny, somewhat chubby, and still missing Nachos."

"Nachos?"

"My pet dragoncycle."

"Ah."

"Yep."

The young couple stayed like that for a while, not really sure about what to say. What could one say to all that? Jackie suddenly felt like a child before Marco, and she was beginning to understand why things had gotten so strange overnight.

Still, as selfish as it seemed, there was a question she would like answered.

"Did you ever… see anyone else?"

"Huh?"

"Well, you said you got over me, right?" he nodded, "Well, did you ever try dating anyone else?"

"Well, yeah," he admitted, "a fling here and there, nothing too serious. Heck, I actually went out with Hekapoo a few times."

"Wait, seriously?"

"Yeah, by then I'd completely given up on coming back," he replied wistfully, "and even if I did, I figured that by then you'd have found someone else. Maybe you'd just remember me as that kid you dated in high school before he disappeared all of a sudden. So I figured I might as well enjoy this new life, you know? We had a few drinks from time to time, had dinner, went to parties, then split up and pick the chase back up the next day."

"And you didn't try to blow her out… why?"

"Well, it seemed rude," he replied with a shrug, "it'd be like reducing our whole relationship to nothing more than trans-dimensional metal. I mean, there were times I hated her, but we did eventually become friends. By the time I actually caught her, I was getting the scissors for me, not Star." He chuckled. "Though I guess Star uses them a lot too."

Jackie could only stare at her boyfriend in shock, though that raised a question she wasn't sure how to ask. She'd borrowed enough trashy romance novels from Janna to know what drinks, dinner, and dancing usually lead to.

"Did you ever… you know…"

"Know…?"

She motioned him to move closer so she could whisper her question into his ear.

"Sex?"

She clamped her hands over his mouth, face as red as the artificial cherry on her Slurpee.

"D-d-d-don't just say it!"

She felt him smile under her hands, making her feel much younger than she was.

"Well, in my defense, I was twenty two," he replied once Jackie finally removed her hands, "and yeah, like I said, nothing too serious."

"So, just one night stands?" she recalled the term from Janna's books, "Didn't peg you for the type."

"Yeah, me either," he admitted, "but I was pretty sure we were over by then and, well, sixteen years of traveling dimensions without a route get lonely, you know?"

"Did you ever s-sleep with…?"

"Hekapoo?" she nodded, "A couple of times. She was always gone in the morning though. Truce ends at midnight."

"Sooo, I guess you got some experience?" she gave him what she hoped was a playful grin, but came out as a rather painful grimace.

"I guess? I mean, it's not like it was a nightly thing," he replied with a shrug, "I had better things to do than go skirt chasing. It was a bimonthly thing at most."

"Okay, just- just don't expect to try whatever you learned on _me_ anytime soon." That did _not_ sound as relaxed as she'd hoped either.

"Well of course not!" he scoffed, "You're way too young!"

And thus, the elephant announced that he was still in the room.

"Marco… we're the same age." She pointed out with a trace of sadness in her voice.

"I- I know it's just…" he sighed, "just give me a little time to get used to this. It's weird having a mind that's older than your body."

"Hey, take your time," she told him with a smile, "I'm here for you. Just give me a warning if you decide to go after older women instead."

"I… don't want to break up," he admitted, "but it'll take me a while to get used to this."

"Like I said, take your time," she placed her hand on his shoulder, "we can take a break if you want and just be friends for a while. I'll be here as long as you need… old man."

"Oh, so I'm old now you little whipper snapper?" he jested in his best old man voice, "I'll have you know I once swam in the green lakes of Tandar buck naked, and I have the scars to prove it!"

Jackie went quiet for a while.

" _Where_ do you have the scars?"

"Let's just say I almost went from nine inches to eight."

And just like that, the date continued. It wasn't fine yet, Marco still felt too old and Jackie still felt somewhat left out. But the two were adamant in meeting each other half way. And in the end, isn't that what all relationships are?

 *****Omake*****

Jackie laid awake at night, staring at the ceiling in thought.

"Nine inches to eight… what does that even mean?"

Her phone rang out Janna's ring tone.

"Hello?"

"The answer is penis."

Then she hung up.

Jackie stared blankly at the phone.

"What?"

Then it hit her.

"Oh!" she turned beet red, "Oh god. Ohgodohgodohgod."

She covered her face with a pillow and rolled around on her bed.

"I DIDN'T NEED TO KNOW THAT!"

Now she couldn't get it out of her head.

Then another thought hit her and she shot up off her bed.

"HOW DID _SHE_ KNOW THAT!?"

* * *

 **Author's Note:** I wasn't actually planning on making a second one, but the public demanded more. Anywho, this was the other thing that worried me about Marco's actual age. Frankly put, he's now dating a girl sixteen years younger than himself. Make of that what you will.

This is also a way to answer why he actually kept at it for sixteen years. Personally I'd have given up after the first week, but it would make sense that he'd eventually get over her if he thought he'd never return, leading to occasional side quests for companionship. Think about it, how often do my fellow grownups think about their high school crushes?

I'm also aware that canonically, Marco is rapidly regressing to something similar to his pre-Scissor Quest mentality, with some minor alterations. While I personally think that's a cop-out, I can't say I didn't expect it. I recognized it as a plot device to make Marco's battle prowess improve significantly over a short period of time from the get-go.

I kind of improvised on how "raunchy" Older Marco would actually be, but I don't think I went too far. Might delete that last joke later depending on feedback though.

Lastly, like I said earlier, I wasn't actually planning on continuing this. It was supposed to be a oneshot, so don't expect many updates on this.


End file.
